This is something that will hopefully get shored up as players become more familiar with the new defense, but it’s also something that could potentially have been ironed out by now had any of the key contributors played in the preseason. There are frequently mistakes in coverage. Quarterbacks have forever to find receivers downfield, and Barry has done little to supplement the four-man rush with additional rushers.
Gary and Smith have each had flashes, but as an entire unit, the pass rush is bad. This is a surprise–sure, the team is missing Za”Darius Smith, but Rashan Gary and Preston Smith are still there, and Kenny Clark is no pass rush slouch. The pass rush is almost nonexistent, especially without blitzes. The bad news is that after two weeks, it’s hard to find a single thing this defense does well consistently. Those adjustments may already be starting, with rookie corner Eric Stokes seeing a more prominent role in place of the embattled Kevin King and with Barry listening to LaFleur’s halftime instructions to play a more aggressive style of defense. The good news is that it’s extremely early, and there is plenty of time for the team to make the necessary adjustments to get back to playing high-caliber football.
This Packers team will not win a championship this season without significant adjustments made to defense, possibly including (in the extreme) a staff change. While I refrained from lobbing such criticism myself at the time of the hire, it was reasonable for people to be skeptical given his poor results with two teams, and the fact that it seemed like he was a consolation hire as a buddy of Matt LaFleur’s after the Jim Leonhard hire didn’t pan out.Īfter two weeks of football, I’ve seen enough. Barry doesn’t exactly have a track record of success in the NFL as a defensive coordinator. That being said, I understood the criticism. Maybe he’d suck but also, like, maybe not When the Packers hired Joe Barry in the offseason to be their next defensive coordinator, I was underwhelmed, but avoided making any hot takes at the time, my reason as always being the experts know better than me.īefore you fire off your Joe Barry takes remember that Mike McCarthy ran the league’s worst offense before getting hired to coach GB and going on to win a Super Bowl and create one of the most prolific offenses in NFL history. I prefer to wait and see how things play out before getting too critical. Normally I’m a guy who takes a measured approach to most things regarding the Green Bay Packers.
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